Patient&#39;s comfort gown



4, 1966 s. L. CATER PATIENT'S COMFORT GOWN Filed March 31, 1964 INVENTOR SARAH LCATER ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,276,036 PATIENTS COMFORT GOWN Sarah L. Cater, Anniston, Ala.; Austin Cater and Howard Cater, executors of the estate of said Sarah L. Cater,

deceased, assignors to A. Yates Dowell and A. Yates Dowell, Jr.

Filed Mar. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 356,098 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-114) This invention relates to fatigue clothing or costume designed primarily for its utilitarian value including ease of application and removal, for the comfort and freedom of movement of the wearer, and allowing ready access when desired to treat the body of the wearer.

The invention relates particularly to garments worn 1n hospitals or elsewhere or by those under the care of doctors and which garments are made to perform a threefold function of covering the wearer, allowing ready examination by the doctor, .and affording freedom of movement and comfort to the patient.

Of fatigue garments on the order of comfort gowns heretofore in use many have been open down the back and included ties or fasteners for securing the open portions together. This type of garment is and has been subject to criticism for various reasons including its difficulty of application, its discomfort and restriction of movement of the patient, and its lack of reversibility in view of the opening in the front which would render it imcomfortable to the wearer if reversed.

It is an object of the invention to provide a patients comfort gown of simple inexpensive construction, easy to apply and remove, affording maximum freedom of movement and comfort to the wearer, as well as ready access for treatment, and which fastens lengthwise to the side so that it can be used as a two-way, either front or back, garment with equal facility and without discomfort or inconvenience, as well as a garment suitable for ambulatory wear, designed to reduce bed sores and to be easier for use by nursing personnel.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation illustrating a garment in accordance with the present invention and its manner of use;

FIG. 2, a front elevation of such garment;

FIG. 3, a plan view of the blank from which the body portion of the garment of FIG. 1 is made;

FIG. 4, a plan view of a blank from which the sleeve is fabricated;

FIG. 5, an enlarged fragmentary perspective illustrating the novel shoulder construction; and

FIGS. 6 and 7, similar views illustrating modified forms of fasteners.

Briefly stated the invention is a comfort gown for use in a hospital, in the home, or elsewhere, and is composed of a body open .at one side lengthwise with quickly attachable and detachable fastening means for the contiguous portions at such open side, and with front and rear panels and sleeves, the garment therefore being readily applicable and removable at either side of the patient depending on which side of garment is out, and allowing maximum freedom of movement and comfort to the wearer as well as affording ready access for treatment of the body of the wearer.

With continued reference to the drawing, the simplicity of the invention will be readily apparent from consideration of the body of the blank 10 which is of a size to form both the front and back panels 11 and 12 and encircle the wearer. The blank is cut so that it has curved front and rear neck portions 13 and 14 with inclined slightly curved top terminal edges 15 and 16 for the front panel and corresponding top terminal edges 17 and 18 for the rear or back panel.

When the blank 10 is folded centrally lengthwise through the point where the top terminal edges 16 and 17 join, the panels 11 and 12 will be overlying with the free edges 19 and 20 in contacting relation, and if applied to a person the two panels would cover the body of such person except for the shoulders. Consequently a duplicate pair of sleeves or shoulder pieces 21 are provided having curved neck portions 22 drawn on the same radius as the neck portions 13 and 14.

The sleeve portions 21, from the centers of the curved neck portion 22 to the opposite edges, preferably are of a dimension slightly greater than the required length of the sleeve so that when the inclined curved edges 23 and 24 of the blank are stitched to the top terminal edges 16 and 17 seams 25 will be located at both the front and rear sides of the garment.

When the sleeve blank 21 located at the open side of the garment is applied it is stitched to the top terminal edge 18 of the rear panel 12 but instead of stitching it to the top terminal edge 15 means is provided by which the front portion of the sleeve and the front panel may be detachably connected. In like manner means is provided by which the contiguous edges of the front and rear panels may be connected along the open side of the garment. Such meansmay be of any preferred form, as for example, by means of snap fasteners having complementary projection and socket portions 26 and 27, a series of such fasteners being spaced along the contiguous edges to be connected.

Instead of the snap fasteners of FIG. 5 a series of ties 28 may be provided as illustrated in FIG. 6 or, if preferred, the fastening together of the contiguous edges of the garment may be accomplished by the use of substances which hold together when pressed together, as for example, by a fastener composed of synthetic resin having a plurality of hook-forming pile threads and a complementary fabric pad which when pressed together adhere and remain so connected but can be readily separated.

In the manufacture of the garment of the present invention the terminal edges of the sides and upper extremities and sleeves of the garment preferably are hemmed or otherwise reinforced for strength and particularly along the cooperating detachable edge portions and the terminal edges of the sleeves.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a simple inexpensive and useful garment is contemplated of any of a wide variety of materials such as cloth, plastic, or other substance. A garment of this character readily may be applied by rolling the one to wear it onto one side, inserting the arm of the wearer through the sleeve opposite the open side of the garment, placing one of the panels of the garment flat on a bed or other surface closely adjacent to the wearer, rolling the wearer back upon such flat panel and folding over and attaching the other panel of the garment. When thus applied, access may be readily had to the wearer by one seeking to treat the body of the wearer and the garment may be used with freedom of movement and comfort regardless of whether the patient is in bed or ambulatory.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the commpanying claim.

What is claimed is:

A comfort gown comprising a unitary one-piece body portion having substantially identical front and back panels of sheet material of a size to cover the wearer with excessive fullness, said garment being detachablysecured lengthwise between said panels along only one side, each of said front and back panels having terminal neck portions curved to fit the front and rear of the neck of the wearer, and also having downwardly diverging slightly curved terminal joint portions extending from such neck portions to the sides of the garment, sleeve-forming members having curved neck portions and terminal joint portions inclined and curved complementary to the curved joint portions of said front and back panels and joined thereto, said sleeve-forming members being permanently secured to said front and back panels along three of said inclined joint portions, the remaining joint portion between one of said sleeves and one of the adjacent panels being detachably secured, and detachable means for securing said detachable portions of said garrntmt, said detachably UNITED STATES PATENTS 459,106 9/1891 Fifield 2--114 818,351 4/1906 Clark 2--114 1,462,515 7/ 1923 McElroy 21 14 X 1,489,046 4/ 1924 Thompson 21 14 2,173,344 9/ 1939 Spanel 274 2,520,300 8/ 1950 Astrove 280 2,701,364 2/1955 Palm 21 14 2,717,437 9/ 1955 De Mestral 2--96 X JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD J. SCANLAN, JR., Examiner. 

